Week Six.

Today was neutral. Not great, not bad. I admit every weekday morning I wake up feeling slightly nauseated and anxious as I realize I have a full workday ahead of me. I try and give myself pep thoughts, think positive, breathe deeply, try to relax, etc. But it's a yucky feeling. I know it's going to stick around probably the rest of this fieldwork as well as a while longer, as I figure out where I'm going to be settling down for work…I steel myself each time I enter the unit because I never know what to expect…

I heard my first Code 100 today….which means combative patient…..it was around 4pm and my supervisor had just left (early for the first time in like forever), so I couldn't go as a student without a supervisor around, but my heart still raced!! (Technically anyone with training who can go, should go…I've had the training…although I'm forgetting it!). It's probably my fault it happened, lol, because I saw the HELP training guy today and we chatted briefly and he mentioned there hadn't been a code in a few months. Tempted fate, oops.

Today the chaplain came in and over-ran my time….I couldn't exactly hover over her shoulder while she sang about Jesus but I did lose quite a bit of productivity. But I just hovered in another room and didn't disturb – I think the patients need that time for praise and reflection and relaxation and song and I wish she came every day. I was glad she was there, just wish her time didn't affect mine! I lost about 8-9 units because I could only run one group instead of two…I made an executive decision to run one longer group instead of two overly short groups. Especially because the rec group had involved exercise and one of mine involved some exercise, so I crossed that one out…I did one on self-awareness…using advice…ie, what advice would you give someone younger/less experienced than you, regarding various themes like friendship, relationships, education…one person said “Don't get married at age 14 like I did”…yep, good advice. We discussed briefly at the start the importance of reflecting on the past, good and bad, and thinking about own experiences and satisfaction, and what you've learned from your experiences you'd want to share with others. There were 11 patients in the room + 1 who wandered in and out. 9/11 were my patients – two I had discharged due to lower levels and/or refusals, but they were there today. Two others slept the entire time and didn't participate so although they were at the table of my group, I didn't charge for them obviously. I think some of the techs think of my group time as a “break” which frustrates me – if there are 16 people on the unit and 11-12 of them are in a single room with me doing a group, how about one of y'all techs stick around in the room in case a pt needs something, which is inevitable?

I guess I've come a long way that 12 people in a room with me the leader, wasn't too stressful.

One lady kept wandering around dropping her pants…not sexually, just randomly… I was in a room with a more or less bed-bound man, and this lady wandered by, and he hollered YOU KEEP YOUR CLOTHES ON! I DON'T WANT TO GO BLIND! And he explained to me she walked into his room the other day and got buck naked. AHAHAHAHAHAHA Yikes. I bet he was like noooooooooooooo!!!!!!! noooooooooooooooo!!!!! Poor lady….

Ummmmmm…….I'm way behind on lather lacing. I really don't like the LACLS….and I'm still not so hot at the single cordovan stitch. 😡 But it's a goal for pretty much all my patients so I better get crackalackin. I think my OT would have a heart attack if she realized that I have like eight more people to do it on…:X I'm pretty caught up on ADM/MMSEs….need to try and deal with some ADLs. Have two people on another unit to deal with. I'm just thinking out loud here, lol

I got a really nice e-mail from a guy from India who is also switching to OT from a computer-tech-ie oriented career. He was interested in thoughts on OT as a second career as well as cultural differences in OT…I'll have to think about what to write about it. My last supervisor was British and my current one is Australian….wow so cosmopolitan…lol. Gotta think about who else.

Lester the Lion Kitty and Roger the Cowardly Kitty are messing with each other….Lester has Asperger's I'm pretty sure. No real social skills, but the desire to be social. He needs social skills training.

Ummmmmmm UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM I feel like there is more to say……what what what……….oh…….an ethical thing………let's just say I'm doing an eval with a guy in his room..and then at 917 another patient comes in and tries to get into his bed and generally causes a mini ruckus that takes, oh, 5ish minutes to resolve…and then he and I finish up. And then when it's time to bill…do I count that time? Technically I was in the middle of an eval, didn't leave the room, was still with him, but was forced to deal with another patient. Do I try and glance at my watch and subtract the few minutes of chaos? If I can even remember to do so in the midst of chaos? Do I just bill for the time from start to finish and ignore a 3-5 minute interruption, even if it makes the difference between billing for one unit or two? What's most ethical/fair/feasible/realistic? These are the days of our OT lives.

Ok I'm going to stop my vegetable typing…I'm practically comatose. Hmmmmmmmmm, what does tomorrow's groups bring with probably 10ish patients and most of them with dementia? Hmmmmmmmmmmm